The coronavirus epidemic continues to develop in Europe with the appearance of several foci of contamination in Italy in particular. Portugal is still not affected but the Directorate General for Health has provided two crucial pieces of information today: it advises to maintain a "social distance" with anyone arriving from the north of Italy. The second piece of information is rather scary: Portugal cannot legally declare a compulsory quarantine because the law simply does not exist! This little-known point prompts some representatives to call on the government to change the Portuguese constitution as soon as possible in case the epidemic spreads to Portugal. Lisbob, the expatriate assistant in Portugal, tells you all about the DGS information on the coronavirus.
Portuguese law prohibits quarantine, authorities recommend keeping distance with people returning from Italy
Maintain a "social distance" with people coming back from Italy
The Portuguese Directorate General for Health requests to pay particular attention to the state of health of all those arriving from Italy, but also from other countries affected by the epidemic of the coronavirus, called Covid-19: China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Iran.
The Director General of Health advises anyone arriving from the most affected regions of Italy to avoid social contact, warning that care should be redoubled.
"There are respiratory hygiene measures that we must maintain, especially for those people who come from northern Italy. We recommend social distance for those who are asymptomatic", explains Graça Freitas, adding that she is waiting more information from the Italian health authorities to understand how the virus has spread. As a reminder, more than 150 people found themselves infected with the coronavirus in less than 48 hours in Italy and 3 patients died.
Evolution of coronavirus cases outside China
Quarantine is not possible in Portugal
The other information is cold in the back. In Portugal, compulsory quarantine is not legally possible and depends on common sense and goodwill, as happened with the 18 people who returned from Wuhan in early February. Unlike most European countries, "compulsory isolation" is limited by the Constitution to mental illness only and under very specific conditions.
Portugal is one of the few countries in the European Union that does not have a legal basis for decreeing quarantines in the event of epidemics of infectious diseases. All of the closest countries (Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands) have laws which allow the public authorities to isolate patients.
Francisco George, former director general of health and current president of the Portuguese Red Cross, believes "it is time for the deputies of the Assembly of the Republic to amend the Constitution, in order to authorize compulsory internment for public health reasons ”.
